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A man walks down a flooded street in the city of Calgary Credit: REUTERS/Andy Clark

More than 100,000 people have been forced to leave their homes after heavy rain brought severe flooding to the Canadian city of Calgary.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said officials believe that the water levels may have reached their peak.

"We've sat at the same level for many, many hours now," Nenshi said. "There is one scenario that would it go even higher than this, so you'll either see the Bow river continue at this level for many hours or you will see it grow even higher and we're prepared for that eventuality."

Residents pass a submerged police car by canoe in the city of Calgary Credit: REUTERS/Andy Clark

More than 100,000 people have been forced from their homes in Calgary.

Three people have died and two others have been reported missing in the heaviest flooding in decades to hit the Canadian region centred on the city of Calgary.

The bodies of two men were found near High River, a town of 13,000 located around 37 miles south of Alberta's oil capital, while officials confirmed a third victim.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said one of the two people reported missing was a woman who was swept away with her camper.

Almost four inches of rain has fallen in some parts of southern Alberta in just two days.

Some 1,300 troops have been deployed to help with rescues and the enforced evacuations that have seen 100,000 people leave their homes in Calgary along with thousands more in the city's surrounding towns.

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An estimated 75,000 people have had to leave their homes in the flood-hit Canadian city of Calgary.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said the Elbow River, one of two rivers that flow through the southern Alberta city, has peaked.

A woman attempts to walk down a flooded downtown street in Calgary, Alberta. Credit: REUTERS/Melissa Renwick

Mr Nenshi said just over two dozen neighbourhoods have been evacuated and most of the estimated 75,000 displaced people are staying with family and friends. There are about 1,500 people in evacuation centers in and around Calgary. Earlier he said has never seen the rivers that high or that fast.

A couple looks on as floodwaters rise in Calgary, Alberta. Credit: REUTERS/Melissa Renwick

Police have urged people to stay away from the city centre and not go to work. All schools are closed.

There has also been flashpoints of chaos from Banff and Canmore and Crowsnest Pass in the Rockies and south to Lethbridge. More than a dozen towns declared states of emergency, with entire communities including High River and Bragg Creek under mandatory evacuation orders.

A submerged police car in the neighbourhood of Sunnyside in Calgary. Credit: REUTERS/Todd Korol

A spokesperson for Defence Minister Peter MacKay said about 354 soldiers are being deployed to the entire flood zone.